What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
by The Tate Twins
Summary: It's almost New Year's in New Tech City. So what does SPD do to celebrate?
1. Planning Meeting

Disclaimer: We don't own Power Rangers, but we love 'em to death!

A/N: Hello once again. Z and Liss here (yes, both of us!), a.k.a. The Tate Twins. Well, this story is a special (and late) New Years present to everyone who's reviewed the stories we've (Z's) written. And guess what? We actually wrote it together! And it's also going to be the first chapter story we've written. It wasn't meant to be a chapter story, but it got way too long while we were writing it, so there ya go. Enjoy, and have a happy New Years!

**What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?**

_(One week before New Years)_

"Please, Commander?" the B-squad begged, ready to get down on their knees if necessary. Cruger looked over to Kat.

"Well, I think it would be a great idea, personally" said Kat, shrugging.

Cruger sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll reserve the ballroom and balcony at the hotel down the street, so it doesn't get too crowded."

The rangers cheered. "Thanks commander!" cried Syd, giving him a hug. 

Cruger, feeling extremely uncomfortable, said "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get everything ready!"

They needed no further encouragement. All of them went running toward the common room, chatting all the way.

"Okay, first of all," said Syd, who was ready to take charge. "We need decorations. Pink would be nice-"

Jack cut her off. "No way Syd! Red is perfect for the New Year celebrations!"

"Oh come on," said Bridge, "everyone knows that green is the new black!"

"You know, I think blue would do nicely, in fact I think it may say something about it in the handbook-"

"Oh come off it Sky, you know the new colors lately, mainly yellow, of course -"

"GUYS!!!" Syd screamed.

The room went silent.

Syd tucked her blonde hair behind her ears and went on. "We'll skip colors for now! Another thing we need to talk about is music. We need a band.

Z opened her mouth to say something, but Syd cut her off.

"No, not a rock band. We need something that's both jazzy and romantic." Syd's eyes lit up and she smiled widely. "Oh, I know some guys in my old neighborhood that would be perfect!" The smile slid off her face, as quickly as it had come. "But they don't have a singer. Does anyone know someone who can sing for us?"

The room elapsed into silence.

"You're a singer Syd, you could do it." Sky offered.

Syd shook her head. "But I'm a pop singer; my voice would sound out of place with a jazz band."

They pondered for a moment longer, but no other answers came.

Sighing, Syd stood up. "Well, a fat lot of help you bunch are. We're just going to have to figure that out later. There are plenty of other things to be done, but if anyone finds a singer, then report straight to me." 

Excitedly, they all went their separate ways, muttering their plans to each other.

Bridge and Sky went to their room; Sky lay down on his bed and flipped open his manual, while Bridge sat down on his own bed and, after taking of his gloves, picked up his acoustic guitar that was leaning against the nightstand.

Bridge picked at the strings for a minute, before glancing over at Sky, who appeared to be thickly engrossed in the chapter about "Proper Behavior for the Command Center".

A sly smile played across Bridge's face as he began playing an old country song from the early 2000's. He watched as Sky's expression changed as he recognized the song. Only Bridge knew that Sky had a deep love for all things country western, and only Bridge could work that love up out of him.

Bridge began to sing the words, pretending that he had no idea Sky was listening. The tempo began to pick up, and soon Bridge's fingers were flying across the fret board as he sang the verse leading up to the chorus. He smiled as he saw Sky set his manual down and swing his legs off the bed so that he was in a sitting position, facing Bridge.

As Bridge reached the chorus, Sky's deeper voice joined his own and soon the two of them were singing loudly, both adopting twanging country accents.

Syd walked by Bridge and Sky's room, heading for her own, when she heard something that made her stop and backtrack so she was outside their door. _Is that a guitar? _Syd listened closer. Now she could hear to the two boys singing. She laughed silently. Poor Sky couldn't carry a tune! But Bridge –he was amazing! _I've never heard him sing before_, thought Syd. Then the music stopped. Sky said something that Syd couldn't hear, and Bridge laughed. Syd leaned against the door so she could hear better.

"Bridge, I'm serious!" Sky said. "You're a fantastic singer; you'd be perfect for the party. I just didn't mention it in the common room so the others wouldn't hear in case you didn't want to do it."

Bridge sighed. "Well, first of all, I'm not doing it. And second, the secret's out," he turned his head towards the door, "so you can come in now, Syd."

A moment later, the electronic doors opened with a hydraulic hiss and Syd walked in with a very confused expression on her face. "Bridge, how did you –"

Bridge cut her off. "Oh come on Syd, you were obvious! I don't know how you didn't hear her, Sky. And my answer is no, I'm not doing it."

_(One hour later)_

"Fine, I'll do it! Just stop bugging me about it" Bridge yelled.

Sky and Syd smiled. It had taken much persuasion and a bit of bribery, but Bridge had finally given in.

For the rest of the week, the whole academy buzzed with excitement. Syd, of course, was freaking out.

"What should I wear, Z?"

The yellow ranger –who was currently lying on her bed, watching the pink ranger run frantically around their room –heaved a sigh. "Oh, I don't know, maybe one of the 30 outfits you already tried on!" Z said, her voice rising in volume out of sheer annoyance.

Syd rolled her eyes. "How about this?" She held up a floor length gown, made of pink satin.

Z's eyes grew slightly wider as she looked at the gorgeous dress.

"I'm guessing that's a yes." Syd said with a smile.

Z nodded.

"Great!" Syd squealed. "Now, what are _you _going to wear?"

Z's face fell. "I don't have anything." Z said honestly.

Syd gaped at her. "What? Well, that means one thing…"

"Oh no, you don't mean…"

Syd smiled and nodded then walked over to their door that they had left open. She looked out and her smile widened when she saw that the boys had left their door open as well. "Sky!" She yelled down the hall. "Grab Bridge, Jack, and the keys to the jeep. We're going shopping!"

Well? How was that? The next chapter will be up soon!

Keep it buttery, finger wiggle

The Tate Twins


	2. The Mall Part 1

A/N: We're so sorry it's taken us so long to get this chapter up, and we're sorry that this chapter is so short! (Honestly, you try writing a story when you and your "twin" live on opposite sides of the country!) But we've finally gotten it posted, and hopefully we'll be able to wrap this story up soon. Maybe within the next three or four chapters.

Anyways, we were originally gonna skip the mall scene, but Cheetah Eyes said to us that she'd really like us to put it in, so we decided to give it a shot, and we ended up liking it. So, this chapter is dedicated to Cheetah Eyes!

- - - -

**Chapter 2**

"One hour." Sky demanded, looking around at his teammates. He was aiming this statement especially at Syd. "We'll meet back here for lunch in _one_ hour, not a minute longer."

They were standing outside the food court in Downtown New Tech Plaza, making plans before they spit up.

Syd made a face at Sky. "One hour? Sky, you obviously don't know how hard it is to find the perfect dress. I'm sorry, but an hour simply isn't going to cut it." She said, as if that settled the matter.

Sky glared at Syd. "One hour." And with that, he turned and began to walk in the opposite direction, with Bridge and Jack running to catch up with his long strides.

"So," Jack began as soon as the three of the guys were walking at an even pace, "where to first?"

"Well, first we need to go get Tuxedoes for Saturday night." Sky answered.

"Oh...right...and where the heck do we get those?" Jack asked flatly.

Sky raised an eyebrow at Jack. "Where do you think?"

"Well to be honest, I don't know, Sky. I've been on the streets since I was a kid, so I've never been to a fancy party before. I've never had to go shopping for a tux before. So if you're not so stuck up and prideful, I'd appreciate some help." Jack said somewhat angrily. He let out a heavy sigh, as if asking Sky for help had been an extremely hard this to do. _Which it was…_

Sky glanced over at Jack. He hadn't meant to anger Jack with his comment, he hadn't even thought about it before he said it.

There was an uncomfortable silence between them as they were both lost in their thoughts. Then they both noticed something, and the exact same thoughts were running through their minds. _An uncomfortable silence? _They both stopped walking and look at one another. _Oh crap!_

"Where's Bridge?" They both said in unison.

xX

Bridge wandered silently along the rows of stores. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and rubbed his temples with a gloved hand –trying to ward off the headache that was threatening to overcome him.

_Man, Sky and Jack_ _can really get on each other's nerves, which can get my nerves, which gives me a headache_. Bridge thought. "And when I get a headache I usually start to babble, which leads to Sky telling me to stop babbling, which triggers Jack to say something like 'Oh, he's okay. Sky, why are you always getting after him for it?' and then that starts those two fighting again. It's all a never ending circle isnt it? Well, I guess that it would end sooner or later, but . . ." Bridge said, not noticing that his thoughts had slipped into actual words. But his rambling trailed off as he reached the store at that end of the mall and he looked up to see the large, brightly colored sign above him that read "Toyland."

Bridge's jaw dropped.

He looked in amazement at the many isles of new playthings and he felt the money in his pocket suddenly becoming very heavy, as if it was calling to him.

Just as Bridge was about to charge into the store and satisfy each and ever one of his wild, childish dreams, he saw out of the corner of his eye something shining in the light of an appliance store window, right next to a store called "A Lady's Fantasy." He turned to see in the window of the Appliance store a bright, new, shiny toaster.

If possible, Bridge's jaw dropped even further.

A bright red sign was propped up next to the glorious toast making machine, screaming the word "SALE" to any passersby.

"Now that's my !" nd with that, Bridge ran off towards the appliance store –all thoughts of childish fantasy forgotten.

Bridge walked into the store and headed to the counter where there was a teenaged boy –probably about 16 –at the cash register.

"Hey, kid. I was wondering how much the toaster in the window cost," said Bridge, acting quickly as he realized that Sky and Jack were probably looking for him by now. There was no response from the boy.

"Hello?" Said Bridge, becoming very impatient. The boy was looking out the large window that was behind him, which showed off the gowns in the shop next door. Bridge figured the kid was probably trying to make eye contact with one of the girls in search for a dress.

Out of curiosity, Bridge followed the teen's gaze. He could see that there were indeed a couple of very good looking ladies over there. There was one with long golden curls, and another with short, dark hair. _Wow, she's really pretty! And she looks kind of like –Wait a second, that's Syd and Z! _

Bridge's gaze snapped from the window to the teenager who was eyeing his friends, and for some strange reason, he found anger rising inside of himself. "Hey," Bridge blurted out, "don't be eyeing them! You have no right to be spying on them like that!"

The teen finally turned around to look at him. "Jeez, mister. It's none of your business." Bridge frowned, realized that the kid was right –even though he was a snotty kid. Bridge opened his mouth to apologize, but was saved when Sky and Jack burst into the store, both out of breath, and looking very disgruntled.

"Bridge! We've been looking all over for you!" Jack exclaimed. Then, turning to Sky, said "I told you we'd find him here."

Sky shrugged, and then spoke to Bridge. "What did you go running off like that for? Now we only have thirty minutes to look for tuxes!" Sky grabbed Bridge by the collar and practically dragged him out of the store.

"I…I'm sorry." Bridge answered lamely, as Sky released him. He could tell that his friends were not pleased with his actions, and he didn't want to anger them any more by rambling.

Sky sighed. "Just don't do it again. We don't have time to go chasing after you."

"I don't think we have to worry about time," Bridge said, grinning widely, "because I have a feeling the girls are just getting started" He pointed to the window of "A Lady's Fantasy".

Jack and Sky looked where he was pointing. At the sight of Syd running around the store like a child in a candy shop, Sky sighed and shook his head, while Jack let out a laugh.

"Come on, let's get going." Sky turned away from the window and took off walking, with Bridge and Jack followed quickly behind.

"So, where exactly is it that we're going to get these tuxes?" Jack asked, looking up at Sky.

A grin began to spread across Sky's face at Jack's question. "To the only place I can go to get a tux." Sky pulled himself up to his full height and answered Jack with pride. "Big and Tall."

**- - - - -**

Well? What do you think? Please leave a review!

Keep it Buttery!

–The Tate Twins–


	3. The Mall Part 2

A/N: Again, we're so sorry it's taken us so long to get this story finished! We honestly didn't plan for this story to take this long to get completed (or to even be a chapter story in the first place). But we're almost done!

I actually wrote this chapter while on the monorail in Disney World and whenever I had a chance to pull out my pen and paper. So yeah, this chap was written in Disney during my vacation, so I'm not sure how good it is. (And I'm proud to say that I got an inspiration boost when I got the autograph and a pic taken w/ the SPD Red Ranger! Sure it was just some guy in the spandex costume, and sure I got a lot of odd looks from parents and their kids, but come on, it's Disney World and an SPD ranger, can you blame me?

Anyways, happy readings!

–Z–

- - - -

**Chapter 3**

"What do you think of this one, Z?" Syd lifted yet another dress off of one of the racks of clothing and held it out for the yellow ranger to examine.

"It's…pink."

"I know! Isn't it _so _cute?!"

"It's pink."

Syd scoffed. "Fine. If you don't appreciate my help and my excellent taste in fashion, then you can just wear your trashy dumpster boots and tacky punk clothes to the dance."

Z let out an exasperated sigh. "Syd, it's just not…I don't know…just not _me_."

"Well what is _you_?" Syd asked her friend impatiently.

Z stood up and weaved her way through the different racks of dresses. She'd occasionally pick one up to get a closer look at it, but nothing caught her eye. Until…

"Hey Syd, what do you think of this one?" Z held up a knee length dress made of a shimmering gold material.

The pink ranger came over to where Z was standing and examined the dress for a moment before looking up at Z with a beaming smile on her face.

"It's perfect! Let's get it." Syd grabbed the dress from Z and took a step towards the register desk before she was stopped by Z's outstretched arm.

"Hold on pinky," Z said. "How much is this going to cost?" She took the dress back from Syd and checked the price tag. Her eyes widened as she took in the numbers before her. "Whoa! Okay, let's keep looking." Z turned around to set the dress back on the rack.

"Let me see." Syd attempted to reach around the yellow ranger and take the dress from her, but Z blocked her.

"No, really Syd, I think we should keep searching." Z said, grabbing the pink ranger's arm and attempting to pull her away from the dress. To no avail though; Syd stayed rooted to the spot.

"Z," Syd said, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly. "We could scour ever store in every mall in Newtech City, but we wouldn't find another dress as perfect as this one. You love it, so let's get it."

"That's easy for you to say, Syd. If you see something you like, you can buy it without even needing to look at the price. But I can't do that." Z sighed "You know just as well as I do that SPD isn't the highest paying job in the world, and I'm living off of my paycheck. There is no way my budget can handle this."

Z slowly set the beautiful golden dress back on the rack, "So, I'm not getting it."

Syd frowned and looked from Z, to the dress, and back again. She could tell, by the way the yellow ranger looked at the dress so longingly, how much she wanted it. Then Syd's expression brightened as she got an idea.

"Well, _you _may not be getting it, but _I _am."

"What?"

"Hey, you said it yourself. If I see something I like, I get it without looking at the price. And I happen to know a certain who would _love _to wear this dress to a dance she's going to." Syd grabbed the dress off of the wrack

"No, Syd–"

"Z, there is _no way_ I'm going to let you go to SPD's first ball wearing anything other than this." Syd said, brandishing the dress in Z's face.

"But Syd, I–"

"We're roomies Z. What you wear to this ball will reflect upon me. If you turn up wearing trash dumpster boots and camo print pants, people will think that I put no effort into helping you. I'll be considered a stuck up, self centered brat! And we can't have that, now can we?"

"Syd, I'm not letting you buy my dress. I can't pay you back, so there's no –"

"I never asked you to pay me back." Syd interrupted once again. "This is as much about me as it is about you. I have to uphold my image, so you have to look good."

"But–"

"Okay, if you insist on doing this the hard way, I'll make you an offer. I'll buy your dress for you, if you let me do your hair, nails, and makeup. Deal?" Syd extended a small, perfectly manicu towards Z.

Z stared in disbelief at the stubborn pink ranger, then laughed and grasped Syd's hand. "Deal."

Syd smiled brilliantly. "Great! Okay, lets go find a cute pair of heels for you and then we'll be ready to meet the boys…Oh my gosh! That is the most adorable pair of jeans _ever!"_

Z laughed as Syd went running off in the opposite direction. As she made her way to the shoe department, Z couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Sky. '_I have a feeling we won't be meeting up with the boys anytime soon.' _Z thought to herself, before setting her mind on finding the perfect pair of shoes.

XxX

"Sky, did we have to come _here_?" Jack whined, as he and Bridge trailed behind the blue ranger like two reluctant children. They were both getting slightly annoyed at all of the tall men that kept looking down at them as they walked past.

"Where else am I supposed to get a tux tall enough to fit me?" Sky questioned, as he led them past a group of mannequins sporting formal attire –a sign in from of them reading 'For the Big Guys. 7 feet tall.'

"But Sky, none of the stuff here fits Jack and me." Bridge said. And to prove this point, he pulled a jacket off of a rack and slid his arms into it. The jacket was ridiculously too big for him –the sleeves reaching his knees, and the shoulders far broader than his own –it seemed to swallow him whole. Jack burst into fits of laughter at the sight of the green ranger.

Sky rolled his eyes and spun around to face his two younger –and shorter –teammates. "Of course none of this stuff fits you. The store is called 'Big and Tall', you two are neither. So why don't you wait over there like good little children while I get fitted for my suit. Then when I'm done, we can head over to 'Toddler Tux', or 'Tuxes for Tykes', where they have the kiddy sizes. And if you're really well-behaved, we might even stop and get you some ice cream on the way home. How does that sound?" Sky said, his voice dripping with pretend pleasure and undisguised sarcasm.

Jack and Bridge stared at Sky blankly for a long moment, but the silence was broken when Bridge raised his hand.

"Yes, Bridge?" Sky asked, in an annoyed tone.

"Can…Can I have mint chocolate chip, please?"

Jack and Sky both rolled their eyes.

"Whatever. I'm going to go get fitted before I lose my sanity. You guys can just wander for a bit till I get back, as it's obvious that neither of you are going to be able to get your own suits without my help."

Sky began to walk towards the fitting room, but then turned and motioned to Jack. The red ranger walked over to Sky, who drew him further away from the green ranger. Sky put a hand on Jack's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. "If Bridge ends up lost, hurt, or damaged in any way, I'm holding you personally responsible. Got it?"

Jack grinned. "Got it."

"Good. Because if anything happens to him…"

"What? You'll kill me?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"No. Syd will kill you."

Jack laughed, but stopped quickly once he saw that Sky didn't have the slightest trace of a smile on his face.

"I'm serious. She's like a lion watching out for her cub when it comes to Bridge. She calls it the mothering instinct. And believe me; you do _not _want to see Syd's mothering instinct in action."

Jack gulped unconsciously. "Oh…great."

Sky grinned and gave Jack a hard thump on the back. "No pressure, right?"

Jack shook his head, but he was too distracted –thinking up ways that the pink ranger might seal his fate –to say anything.

"See you later, Jack." Sky chuckled slightly, and walked off towards the fitting room.

A few moments passed in silence as Jack stared distractedly at nothing, caught up in an imaginary scene of Syd stabbing him in the heart with a nail file. He shook his head slightly, trying to bring himself back into reality.

"Bye, Sky." He blurted out, now that the blue ranger's words had finally penetrated his mind. Jack looked around, wondering where Sky had gone. He stood uncomfortably alone in the store before realizing a horrific fact. "Oh no…Not again…" Jack looked around frantically, but there was no sign of the green ranger.

"Bridge?" Jack whimpered as thoughts of an angry pink ranger revolved around in his head.

**- - - - -**

Well? What do you think? We've got one more mall scene to go, and then…the ball! Please leave a review!

Keep it Buttery!

–The Tate Twins–


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